There are many situations in which it is desired to latch two members together to prevent everything but minimal relative movement between the two members while at the same time providing that the two members can be easily unlatched when desired. One such situation, discussed in detail below as an illustration of all of these situations, is the latching of two adjacent sections of a stake rack type of truck body.
Trucks having cargo boxes comprised of removable side walls (stake rack type) are well known in the art. The truck platform usually has spaced post holes located along its periphery. The truck side wall sections have mating posts extending downward from the sections for insertion into these post holes. Because of the size of the sections and other factors, the tolerances allowed between the posts and the post holes are relatively large and the fit is not very snug. Therefore, if the sections are only secured by placing them in the post holes and are not fastened to each other, the sections will sway back and forth, vibrate, be the source of noise, and will not be very stable.
To prevent this swaying and to provide lateral support for the sections, the sections are usually fastened together after they have been installed in the proper post holes by a variety of prior art latching devices.
One such prior art latching device is illustrated in United States patent application Ser. No. 223,626, filed Jan. 9, 1981 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,848, issued Nov. 8, 1983 and entitled "Latching Mechanism For Panels". The latching device shown in this patent application does obtain the objectives of greatly reducing the swaying of the sections to which it is attached, as well as providing lateral support for these sections. However, in use over extended time periods, the wear characteristics and easy of operability of this latching mechanism did not maintain the desired level of performance.
All of the other known prior art fasteners have not proven capable of completely controlling the movement of adjacent body sections, due to the relatively large tolerances in the construction of the truck bodies. These large tolerances, which these prior art fasteners cannot overcome, allow the sections to move relative to each other and their supporting systems. This movement, or vibratory effect generates undesirable noise as the truck is driven down the highway.
These prior attempts at increasing the tightness of the latching or retention between the panels has at times resulted in either a too complicated or too expensive mechanism or a system which is not easily disengaged when it is desired to separate the sections. A need in the art, therefore, exists for a latching mechanism which is both effective, easy to disengage and yet reasonably uncomplicated and inexpensive.
It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill this need by providing an easily manufactured, uncomplicated latching device which securely and firmly connects adjacent members, allowing minimal movement between the members under dynamic conditions while at the same time providing an easy and reliable means for disengaging the members, thereby allowing the members to be readily separated.